South Africa: More than half broadband users pirates

A survey on online piracy conducted by specialist South African website MyBroadband among its readers has revealed how widespread piracy is, and what sort of content people pirate.

According to the survey, 58 per cent of tech-savvy broadband users in South Africa have pirated content over the last 12 months.

The survey was completed by 5,230 broadband users in South Africa. Those surveyed were typically tech-savvy consumers with a good knowledge of the Internet and broadband services.

The breakdown of broadband connections of users who completed this survey are as follows:

ADSL – 63 per cent

Mobile broadband – 30 per cent

Wireless broadband – 4 per cent

Other – 3 per cent

The survey results revealed that 58 per cent of respondents have pirated copyrighted movies, TV series, music, software or games over the last 12 months.

The most popular content to pirate was TV Series, followed by movies, music, software and games. Answers for the question “What type of content do you pirate?” brought the following responses:

TV Series – 80 per cent

Movies – 70 per cent

Music – 53 per cent

Software – 38 per cent

Games – 28 per cent

Other – 6 per cent

The majority of people who pirated ‘other’ content indicated that they download e-books.

The survey results also showed that the majority of people in South Africa pirate movies, TV series and music because the content is not available in South Africa, the wait for it to arrive there is too long, and for convenience.

People further indicated their decision to pirate content was fuelled by limited and expensive TV services in SA, frustrating advertising in shows and movies, and to catch up on content (like TV shows) they have missed.